“Nurse Jackie” returns picking up right where it left off with Jackie (Edie Falco) in the bathroom after her husband Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) staged at intervention. She confronts Kevin with reasonable explanations for all her pharmacy purchases, like addicts always have good explanations.

Jackie goes about smoothing over her whole operation, including Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) and O’Hara (Eve Best). O’Hara’s holding a grudge. That’ll take a few episodes to smooth over (they sent the whole season, I cheated and watched ahead.) Other major season two issues get resolved too when Kevin makes a decision about their daughters’ tuition, but tries to keep Jackie out of it.

Back at the hospital, Zoey (Merritt Wever) is adorable in her afterglow, jumping around. Her sex talk continues throughout the premiere, and the season. Zooey fans can also look forward to her pedometer antics, speed walking in place in episode four.

There are two major hospital patients in the premiere. A kid has a mirror stuck up his nose because he wanted to see his brain. Jackie finds a way to make his dream come true.

The other patient is a tragic one, the kind medical dramas thrive on. A father/son moving team comes in with the son foun buried under a pile of boxes. They actually don’t have a cure for that. It’s one of those impossible dramas filled with guilt and emotion, and Jackie is there for the father.

Another long-lasting incident happens when Kevin shows up at the hospital. Nobody knew Jackie was married and Zoey even checks Kevin’s ID. This leads to everybody finding out everybody’s secrets in a series of awkward reveals.

This is all solid “Nurse Jackie.” I love watching Jackie handle the daily grind and execute her schemes to get by in her real life. The show seems to know how we like to see the supporting cast fill the hospital with their dysfunctions and they’re giving us more of that this season.

]]>It’s almost time for season 3 of the Showtime series “Nurse Jackie,” I guess. It seems that way, in any case, because here’s a trailer for it. I’ve never seen the show, but I gather it’s about this nurse named “Mackie” or something like that, and she cheats on her husband so much that her coworkers don’t realize she’s married. Oh and there’s bad language, which is helpfully obscured in this video for some reason (I guess it’s not being shown on Showtime). Anyway, enjoy the trailer, if that’s your thing. I’m not gonna judge you. Whatever floats your boat, brah.